Gautam Gambhir Questioned Over India's Test, ODI Struggles. Gives Blunt Reply: "Not Fair"

India head coach Gautam Gambhir stated that it is "not fair" on Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill to have to often play without several of his key players. Throughout Gill's captaincy tenure, stars like Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya have regularly missed games across formats due to injury. He will also have to do without important players for the upcoming ODI series against West Indies, as the likes of Shreyas Iyer will be busy with the Asian Games 2026.

Gambhir also touched upon the issue of players breaking down frequently. The BCCI Centre of Excellence of late has come under scanner for injury management of players.

"If I can be completely honest, then yes. In Test cricket and one-day cricket especially, you want your best players to play as much as they can because the next year's World Cup is in the 50-over format.

"And more importantly, it's not fair on a young captain (Gill) as well if he doesn't get the best team playing consistently and regularly, and , and not being on the path consistently.

"If I have to be dead honest, yes. As a coach, I can take all the criticism, but for me, I think it is important for Shubman to get the best playing 11 as many times as he can in red-ball and in white-ball formats," said Gambhir.

The upcoming home ODI series against the West Indies will be played without the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan and Jasprit Bumrah who would be competing in the Asian Games.

Gambhir said playing without key players is not ideal preparation for the World Cup in a year's time.

"Obviously, we know that it's not ideal when you're preparing for a World Cup which is in a year's time. But again, the Asian Games squad was selected long back, and sometimes it's difficult for the selectors when they have to put the best squad in place.

"So, we always knew that if the frontline players go to the Asian Games, we will probably have to compromise a bit in the one-day series against West Indies. But again, it gives other people the opportunity as well.

"And obviously, in a series like this, you've got young guys like Naman Dhir, Auqib Nabi, getting those opportunities in the squad. So they can also show what they bring in the white-ball format. And obviously, the bigger the pool, the better it is for us.

"Normally, when you have all the players available, sometimes new players might not get that opportunity. But now with people like Auqib and Naman, these guys will get that opportunity. So on one hand, it's good. But on the other hand, obviously, we want the best players," Gambhir added.

With PTI inputs

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